"Those tactics... I mean, they must have been smoking weed in the team car!" - Geraint Thomas stunned by Dutch approach to 2024 European Championship road race
Cycling
Last weekend in Limburg, the men's 2024 European Championship road race was held. Pre-race, the big favourites were the Belgian duo Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen and in the end, it was the former who took the title in a frantic bunch sprint.
On the latest episode of their Watts Occurring podcast, INEOS Grenadiers duo Luke Rowe and Geraint Thomas reflected on the race, with a few curious tactics sticking out to the Welsh pair. "There were two things from this race," Thomas begins, targeting the Dutch approach first. "I didn't see it all, but I heard that Mathieu van der Poel just wanted to create chaos and attack, Danny van Poppel, who is one of the best leadout men in the world, ends up in the break and they've got Olav Kooij who can win. Those tactics... I mean, they must have been smoking weed in the team car! Unbelievable tactics."
That wasn't all that caught the eye of the former Tour de France winner and Giro d'Italia runner-up however. "Belgium sprinted with two guys. Did Merlier get a leadout?" Thomas questions. "Yeah, he had a leadout of Bert van Lerberghe, who is with him at Quick-Step. Then Philipsen had a leadout from some Alpecin dude. Two trains," comes the answer from Rowe. "That's nuts."
Whilst Thomas had been left confused by the tactics of the Dutch and the Belgians, Rowe meanwhile, had a bone to pick with the Italian contingent in Limburg. "They took control, Affini was doing these big dog pulls and it was incredible. But then, they tried to lead it out. They had a massive numerical advantage and they were riding on huge roads on the way in. Just come late. Come late with speed," the long time INEOS road captain explains. "I mean they almost pulled it off. Consonni got a little boxed in, he was last leadout man. But I mean, if you're a director... It's obvious. Although they didn't have connection with the director, it's worth adding that. No race radios in the Euros."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 4visitors 4
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
Loading
Tim Merlier is the new Men Elite European Road Champion 🇪🇺 The Belgian went the long way round in a thrilling sprint finale to secure his first European title 🔥
7 Comments